States, What Happened To The Over N1tr Ecological Funds Distributed? -FG


Post created on 10:22 am

 

 

The Presidency yesterday challenged states to give an account of how they spent amounts in excess of one trillion naira, allocated to them from the Ecological Fund to tackle floods and other ecological problems.

This came as the Federal Government said yesterday that the release of water from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroun was not responsible for the large-scale flooding in Nigeria.

Several states, including Benue and Kogi in the North-Central; Bayelsa, Rivers and Delta in the South-South, have cried out for help from the Federal Government as they battle to provide succour for victims of floods forced out of their homes and left without shelter, food and potable water.

Roughly N1 trillion, representing 2.2 per cent of the total budget for 2018, 2019 and 2023 was budgeted for ecological and disaster management.

In 2018, 2.2 per cent of the estimated of N9.120 trillion budget, amounting to N198 billion was set aside for the Ecological Fund; in 2019, the 2.2 per cent amount of the budget of N132 billion was allocated for the Fund, while in 2023, 2.2 per cent of the N21 trillion budget indicated  N462 billion allocation for Ecological Fund.

However a search of the website of the Ecological Fund Office for details of accruals and monthly/ quarterly releases to states and federal agencies did not yield the desired results.

A search of the budget implementation report equally did not yield the desired results.

The House of Representatives had since June, launched a probe into the utilization of the fund for the past 10 years.

This is not the first time such a probe is taking place in the National Assembly.

On its part,   the Presidency has continued to query public attention on the Federal Government when in fact, the states and local governments therein received the chunk of ecological funds set aside for disaster management.

Presidential spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, in response to enquiries from Vanguard yesterday, made reference to a comprehensive statement he issued on the subject in August.

In the statement, the Presidency enjoined state governors to rise to the responsibilities of their office by responding to the needs of their citizens in the face of growing floods and other ecologically-related disasters.

This was in response to the growing number of appeals from groups and individuals, including some of the affected state governments, for help.

Garba explained that statutorily, the revenue allocation formula provides that 2.32 per cent of derivation funds was set aside for ecology and disaster management and the amount is shared across the three tiers of government.

“The President commends the few states that are up in front, doing a yeoman’s effort, averting disasters and managing same where they occur.

“While he gives the nation assurances that the Federal Government will continue to work closely with the state governments to provide all possible assistance to overcome this challenge, the President expects at the same time it must be seen as a shared responsibility.

“The response to emergencies must stand on the three-legged structure.  Flooding, droughts out of season, and wild weather patterns are now global experiences due to climate change. No one now denies its detrimental effects in all corners of the planet.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has said that water from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon is not responsible for the flooding that has devastated parts of Nigeria.

Minister of Water Resources, Alhaji Suleiman Adamu, stated this at the 2023 budget defence of the ministry in Abuja yesterday.

He cleared the notion that the water resulting in the flooding was from Lagdo Dam, saying the inflow from the dam to Nigeria was only one per cent.

“Yes the dam releases water; sometimes it releases water without notice and when they do that, it has impact on communities downstream.

“It is not the main reason you have flood in this country.  The tributaries of River Benue are the main cause, and this year, the rains have been unprecedented.

“The trans-boundary water that even comes into this country from Rivers Niger and Benue constitute only 20 per cent of the fresh water that flows into the country.

“Eighty per cent of the flood is water we are blessed with from the sky falling on Mambila and Jos plateaux.  Most of this flow is from Nigeria,” he said.

However, the minister said the Federal Government was not often informed by the Cameroonian government on annual release of water from Lagdo Dam.

He said: “It took a lot of effort for us to sign an MoU for Cameroun to be informing Nigeria about releases.

“It was signed in 2016. Since then, every year, when the flood season comes, it is the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency that calls them to know their level of water.

“We cannot blame the flood this year on Cameroon. We can only blame them for violating the terms of the MoU.”

 


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